MOPAC/MPS - sale of Raynesfield Estate, Merton

Question

How do you respond to the news that a number of families living on the Raynesfield Estate in Merton are facing homelessness - with many more facing the prospect of moving far away from friends, family and local schools - following the decision taken to reduce the size of the residential portfolio owned by the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) and Metropolitan Police Service (MPS).

Answer

I sympathise with the situation some tenants find themselves in. They are tenants of Crown Housing, to whom the property has been and remains on lease until December 2014. Crown Housing is working with each tenant to establish whether they have alternative accommodation that they could offer. Tenants were informed from the outset that these leases were time limited and that their occupancy of these properties could not be a long term arrangement.

MOPAC have been in contact with Merton Council and have asked the Council's Housing Services to make tenants aware of further support arrangements, where applicable.

I am committed to ensuring that housing is available and, although these will be decisions for Merton Council, we would expect that new developments would include an element of affordable homes for Londoners. Over the past three years, I have supported the development of 750 new affordable homes in Merton, and more are in the pipeline for the coming years.